Multan firm up their position at the top of the table although they’ve played more games than the other teams. They do seem like a side with all bases covered and will be a tough nut to crack. Islamabad are a powerhouse side themselves and this loss isn’t likely to affect their morale too much.
The strong batting line up of Islamabad United failed to cope the pace and spin of Sultans. Rizwan, Rossouw and Miller did it with the bat and nicely backed up by their pacers and spinners. Abbas took 4 wickets, Ihsanullah, Ilyas and Usama took 2-wicket each.
A clinical win for Multan. After posting an above-par total, they didn’t rest on their laurels and put on a disciplined bowling performance that was also backed up by some stunning fielding/catching. Munro and van der Dussen did keep the visitors in the game with their partnership, and Azam also played some brave shots but the hosts always seemed to be in front throughout. Needless to say, Mir’s double-strike when he removed Munro and Shadab in the same over, is what properly broke the game open and Multan didn’t put a foot wrong after that. Ihsanullah was fiery yet again despite not getting wickets early on, and his pace did unsettle the batters. The star was Afridi though, an inspired inclusion and he picked up a 4-fer with some clever change-ups. Islamabad were a bit too patchy with both bat and ball, and felt well short in the end. Azam’s dismissal sparked a proper collapse as the visitors lost their last six wickets for just 25 runs.
Mohammad Rizwan | Multan captain: Very happy! It’s a very collective effort right from each team member and also the support staff. It’s really good to see each and everyone contributing. We’re having different heroes for different games in both batting and bowling. The team is ticking all the boxes and that’s showing in the results.
Abbas Afridi | Player of the Match: Management and the bowling coach have helped me a lot. Fortunately, things are working for me. The plan from the coaches and captain was to mix up the lengths/pace, and keep it simple.
Shadab Khan | Islamabad captain: Don’t think so (whether opting to bowl was a wrong decision), we had confidence in our chasing abilities and we still believe it was the right call. 190 was gettable but we just couldn’t. Had to play Abrar as I wasn’t fit enough to bowl a full spell and in a day game, the extra spinner does help. We’re waiting for the home games. Sometimes such losses are a blessing in disguise early on in the tournament. We’ll bounce back.